Montana Fish Report

This is considered to be the best time of the year to target the big brown trout – witness the lake record 13.4 pound brown caught last week. Bank anglers have really been doing well using Power Eggs or Power Bait to catch their limits. Rainbow and chartreuse are definitely the most productive colors. You can get a few more bites a day by adding a little scent to your bait. Garlic has been the most popular scent for applying to bait, and shad scent works best on casting lures. This is a great time to take your kids fishing- the hot action will keep them from getting bored! Trolling anglers have been having luck top-lining and using side planners. A single nightcrawler threaded onto a Wedding Ring behind a Sling Blade is hard to beat. Needlefish, Excel, and Vance's spoons are also catching a lot of fish. Shad patterns such as, natural shad, chrome, and cop car will resemble what fish are feeding on. Sometimes bright colors such as chartreuse, flame orange, copper, and gold, will catch their attention better than natural colors. To make your lures even more appealing, add a trolling grub, hootchie skirt, or a piece of crawler. For targeting brown trout, try using a Rapala J9, Sebile Magic Swimmer, or an S-Waver to coax these large aggressive fish. Bass are extremely healthy this year. They are schooled up and gorging themselves on the abundance of shad. There are a lot of 2-pound-plus spotted bass. Once you find the bait, the fish will be nearby. Spoons are a great way to imitate injured and dying shad. The bass have a hard time passing on easy prey. Also, try using a drop-shot rig. Shad-patterned hand-poured worms have been working good for most anglers. Larger fish tend to feed on crawdads, and small planted trout. Use Zoom craws and tubes to mimic a crawdad and if the wind kicks up a little, try using a trout-patterned swim bait.

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